bittersweet memories
by hazeymist
Summary: “Mikan…” Mikan stopped crying and looked down on the boy she was holding. He stirred and opened his eyes slowly. Mikan gleamed with happiness and her heart skipped with joy. “Natsume!” NxM with RxH on the side


"No! I'm not gonna leave without you Natsume!" Mikan tightened her grip on Natsume's hand.

"Mikan, we have to go now or the pursuers will get you." Hotaru grabbed Mikan's free hand and started tugging on her urging her to run.

Mikan turned her head to Hotaru then back to Natsume. Her eyes got misty and she quietly begged Natsume while looking at him helplessly. "Please? Natsume I need you." She muttered as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Natsume looked at Mikan with sad and regretful eyes. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and stared into her eyes. "Tono and I need to hold off the pursuers. I promise to follow you." He was determined to follow Mikan, but she knew that on Natsume's condition now he could kill himself before the pursuers even laid a hand on him.

"Were not making any promises right now Natsume. I want you to come with us." Mikan loosened Hotaru's grip on her hand and hugged Natsume. She buried her face in his shirt as Natsume wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"I promise I will live through this Mikan. I will not die as long as the elementary principal still lives to chase you." He held Mikan's jaw and tilted her head up to make her meet his eyes. "Please, run away and be safe." He gave Mikan a soft kiss on the lips.

"There they are!"

"Get ready Natsume, they're coming." Tono said as he heard the pursuer's voice.

Natsume's head turned to where the voice came from and saw the pursuers running towards them. He turned back to Mikan and saw her pleading with her eyes. "I have to do this to keep you safe." He let Mikan go and ran the opposite direction where the pursuers where. Natsume looked over his shoulder and saw Hotaru pulling Mikan away. He saw the pain in her eyes as Natsume made a barrier of fire between them.

Mikan whipped her tears as she ran with Hotaru and the others. She had faith in Natsume and she knew that Natsume kept his promises. She just hoped that this is one promise that he could truly keep.

***

"Are we gonna hide forever then?" Ruka muttered as he wrapped his arms around his knees.

"I guess we have no other choice." Tsubasa answered and turned his direction to Mikan who was standing beside the window of the abandoned building in Tokyo. She was looking down from the second floor the passerby's and was eagerly waiting for the arrival of the fire caster who has promised to live and go after them.

"Mikan, I think you need to get some rest." Hotaru placed a hand on Mikan's shoulder.

Mikan turned around to meet Hotaru's eyes and saw the great concern in them. It's already been 5 hours since they left the academy and found this place. It was good news that Ruka has the barrier Alice so that it wasn't easy for the pursuers to find them. Of course they knew that they need to transfer to another place again if they wanted to be really safe.

Mikan gave Hotaru a small smile and said, "I don't want to rest Hotaru. You'd never know if Natsume and Tono will be here any minute." Mikan inserted into Tono's body a tracking Alice in order to track her and the others.

"I'll keep watch for-" Hotaru broke off as the corner of her eye caught a familiar figure walking towards the house and leaned to get a better view outside the window.

"Mikan, it's Tono. He's carrying something." Hotaru's eyes narrowed to get a better view.

Mikan turned to the window and saw Tono walking towards the abandoned building. She narrowed her eyes and saw that Tono was carrying a person in his hands. Her eyes widened in shock as she scrambled out of the building to meet Tono.

"It's Natsume." Hotaru said and made Tsubasa and Ruka scrambled out the building too. She also followed after them.

"What happened?" Mikan said as he reached Natsume and Tono. She looked at Natsume with despair and turned to Tono to look for answers in his face.

"Natsume!" Ruka ran over to Natsume and stared at him with worried eyes.

"He used too much of his Alice. But he was able to burn all the pursuers." Tono had said when he placed Natsume on the ground.

"Natsume." Mikan kneeled at Natsume's side, cupped his cheek and hoped to get an answer. When she saw no response from him her eyes started to sting and tears fell. "Natsume you promised!" Mikan started to shout. Hotaru placed her hand on Mikan's right shoulder and Ruka on the left.

"Mikan..." Hotaru muttered. She didn't know what else to say except Mikan's name.

"Natsume I can't believe you broke your promise!" Mikan shook the hands of Ruka and Hotaru and cradled Natsume. "You promised…" She trailed off.

Seeing Mikan cry liked that made Hotaru feel pity for her. They all wanted to cry. Even Hotaru who usually kept a straight face in every situation managed a tear. Ruka saw that Hotaru was crying quietly and took her hand.

She looked up at Ruka surprisingly.

Ruka just smiled and Hotaru whipped her tears. She looked at Mikan suffering there cradling Natsume telling him about his promise.

"_You Promised…"_ Natsume heard a faint voice from a distance. He looked around him and saw nothing but sheer darkness.

"_Natsume…"_ He heard the voice again, but this time louder.

"Mikan?" He closed his eyes and listened carefully. _"Wake up Natsume!"_ The sentence was almost a scream. It was so close. _"Please, wake up!"_

Natsume took the initiative and opened his eyes carefully. The light seemed to hurt his eyes so he closed it back again. Then he heard Mikan's sobbing. He wanted to know the reason why. Was it because of him? He needed to get an answer. He struggled to find his voice, but failed to do so. He tried again and was finally able to say the word, "Mikan…"

Mikan stopped crying and looked down on the boy she was holding. He stirred and opened his eyes slowly. Mikan gleamed with happiness and her heart skipped with joy. "Natsume!"

Natsume sat up and rubbed his head. "What happened?"

He never got his answer 'cause Mikan hugged him quickly. Natsume smiled and returned the hug. "Told you I promised." He whispered in her ear. Mikan sobbed and buried her face in his shoulder. "I know." Mikan replied.

"You got us a little worried there kid." Natsume looked up and saw Tsubasa standing beside Ruka, Hotaru and Tono. He just gave them a reassuring smile. They all knew the war wasn't over yet and they knew they had to keep hiding from the pursuers, but they also knew that if they worked together nothing can harm or defeat them. They also need to free everyone from the clutches of the elementary school principal. With a little time, they knew that they would succeed.

***

"Mikan what's wrong?" Hotaru asked when she saw Mikan crying to herself.

Mikan whipped her tears away and gave Hotaru a smile. "Just remembering bitter-sweet memories Hotaru." She reasoned. Hotaru smiled back at her.

"What kind of memories?" Natsume demanded from her.

"That's for me to keep and for you to remember." She replied giving him a sly smile and tapped his nose lightly.

"Why can't you just share it with us?" Tsubasa asked.

Mikan looked around her and saw the faces that shared with her the journey of life. There was Hotaru and Ruka, Tsubasa and Misaki, Tono and Nobara even the student's who loathed her when it was her first time in the academy. It was a reunion and the people of the academy that she treasured greatly and sacrificed a lot for her was there. But the most important one was the person beside her, who had his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

She smiled and opened her mouth to tell them about her memory until she felt wet. Like something popped or splashed her. "I think my water just broke." She said realizing what was the reason.

The people inside the room stared at her for a minute before processing what she had said. "Get her to the hospital, quick!" Tsubasa stated reaching for his phone to call the hospital. Then the people inside the room started rushing, except Natsume who was staring at Mikan with joy in his eyes, Mikan ignored the pain in her stomach and returned the smile to Natsume.

They where finally having their expected guest, but it seems like they weren't the only ones who're excited.

"Mommy what's going on?" Hiro, who was sitting on Hotaru's lap, tugged on Hotaru's shirt impatiently. Ruka took him from Hotaru and said, "Aunt Mikan's having a baby."

* * *

**How was it? It's not that well-written if I must say so myself, but it makes sense. Tell me what you think by reviewing kay? Even if your not signed-in you can still review. Just click the review button below the screen.**


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